Method of using prourokinase in facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

In the field of biological medicines, a use of prourokinase (proUK) and variants thereof in facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction is provided. The use includes: within 6 hrs after a patient is afflicted with accurate myocardial infarction (AMI), firstly, performing thrombolytic therapy with proUK or variants thereof, and then, performing a PCI operation, to dredge the infarction related artery (IRA) as soon as possible, and re-establish an effective forward blood flow, such that an ischemic myocardium is reperfused. According to the present invention, the facilitated PCI for treatment of AMI with the proUK or variants thereof has an effect superior to that of direct PCI.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION[0001]The present application is the US national stage of PCT / CN2008 / 070653 filed on Apr. 1, 2008, which claims the priority of the Chinese patent application No. 200810020100.5 filed on Mar. 31, 2008, which application is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of Invention[0003]The present invention relates to the field of biological medicines, and more particularly to a use of a plasminogen activator prourokinase (proUK) and variants thereof in facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with accurate myocardial infarction (AMI).[0004]2. Related Art[0005]It is a most important strategy, in early-stage treatment of AMI, to dredge the infarction related artery (IRA) as soon as possible to re-establish an effective forward blood flow, such that an ischemic myocardium is reperfused.[0006]Direct PCI and intravenous thrombolytic therapy are two main methods for dredging the IRA and perf...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a combination of proUK or its variants with PCI that has a beneficial effect in preventing complications during thrombolytic therapy and reducing the risk of reinfarction after PCI. This is because proUK or its variants have both enzyme and zymogen characteristics, which allows them to dissolve embolized thrombus with high selectivity without causing hemorrhagic complications. Additionally, proUK or its variants also have the ability to inhibit platelet aggregation, which further reduces the incidence of reinfarction after thrombolysis and improves patient outcomes.

Problems solved by technology

However, due to the limitations such as the PCI equipment in the local medical institution where the patient visits, whether a skilled operator can be in position timely, and inevitable time delay during the transportation of a patient, even in American with very advanced medical services, only 4% of the patients after referral can achieve the treatment objective of receiving direct PCI for reperfusion within 90 min after the medical visit, and about 60-70% of the patients cannot receive direct PCI therapy in time[4].

However, the effectiveness and safety of the facilitated PCI by using presently approved thrombolytic drugs, such as streptokinase and TPA (including, for example, TNK, reteplase, and alteplase) are significantly poorer than those of the direct PCI[8,9], which may be related to that the TPA thrombolytic drugs may activate the coagulation system upon use and thus the incidence rate of reinfarction is high.

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